Typewriting machine



Feb. u, 11936. 17A. B. SMITH 2,030,410

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed oct. 2, l1935 2 Sheets-sheet 1 K H A Eimllll w. n n S B n www Feb.' M, 1935. 1. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Oct. 2, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORI Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITING MACHINE Application October 2, 1935, Serial No. 43,181

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a new form of paragraphing device adapted to be used on typewritng machines having a series of column or tabular stops, manually operated, or key-operated, used in co-operation with devices of the type disclosed in the patent to Buckingham No. 1,053,153.

'Ihe object of the invention is to provide a semi-automatic paragraph-indenting mechanism on such typewriting machines, by means of which, after rst determining the required paragraph-indentation with respect to the left-hand margin, the machine-carriage automatically is brought into alignment with such paragraph-indentation by the operation of a designated tabular key, under the control of the operator. An advantage of this invention is that it relieves the operator of manually setting the machine-carriage for each succeeding paragraph-indentation.

It is a further object of this invention to coordinate the paragraph-setting device and the marginal-setting device so that should it be advantageous to establish a new left-hand margin, the paragraph-setting device will move with the margin-device so as to retain the same degree of paragraph-indentation.

It is also a feature of this invention to provide a semi-automatic paragraph-indenting device which is operatively locked to a compensating marginal-stop device.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of the paragraph-setting-device carriage 2l, the marginalsetting device 44 and a tabular stop 69. K

Figure 2 shows the series of tabular stops A-A.

Figure 3 is an elevation in cross-section to show how the operator sets the tabular stop by an upward finger-pressure at 35.

Figure 4 is a perspective illustrating the relation of the devices.

Figure 5 is a rear View to illustrate the construction of the marginal-stop-setting device which is in its operative position with pawl 50 en'- gaging a rack-tooth and the typewriter-carriage having been shifted as far to the right as the frame-stop 51 and the latch-slot 49 will allow.

Figure 6 is a similar view showing the marginal-stop latch 46 in an inoperative position, pawl 50 being raised from its engagement With a rack-tooth.

The typewriting machine includes the usual main frame I0 which supports a non-shiftable track I I on which runs a carriage I2 having end plates I3 which support a platen I4, which cooperates with the usual paper-table and feedrolls. An escapement-rack bar I5 is pivotally supported on the carriage and is normally drawn by spring I6 into engagement with a pinion I1 mounted on the usual shaft. An escapementwheel I8 is mounted to rotate with the pinion and co-operates with the usual escapement-dog (not shown) and the carriage-drive motor I9 to move the vcarriage in letter-space movement during the typing operation. A type-bar 20 is shown in printing position. n

A paragraph-carriage 2 I, having flat bottomed inverted U-shaped guides 22 and 23, straddles rack-bar 24, supported by the end plates I3. Carriage 2I slidably engages rack-bar 24 and is held thereon by suitable cross pins or screws 84, 85, extending under the bar. The upwardly and rearwardly extending bracket-arms 25 and 26 embrace a double faced vertically toothed rackbar 21 held by trunnion bearings 28 and adjustable trunnion pins or screws 29. Rack-bar 21 is held in its normal position, which teeth vertical, by the tension of spring 30, which, fastened at its respective ends to pin 3|, depending vertically from the bottom of rack-bar 21, and anchor-pin 32 on bracket 25, urges rack-bar 21 in clockwise rotation against abutment-pin' 33.

At one extremity of rack-bar 21, preferably the inner for convenience of operation, a lever 34, terminating in iingerpiece 35 and fastened to rack-bar 21 by screw 36, permits the operator to rotate rack-bar 21 in a counterclockwise direction by an upward finger-pressure at 35, spring 30 returning rack 21 to its normal vertical position on release of pressure at 35, as previously explained.

The double pronged paragraph-setting cam 31 is frictionally held in vertical position in any selected tooth of rack 21, the inner parallel surface of the prongs vengaging the roots of a pair of rack-bar teeth so as to prevent rotation of cam 31 in relation' to Vrack-bar 21. The front prong 38 of cam 31 is of sufficient length merely to insure its engaging the rack-bar tooth over its entire length, the rear prong 39 extending vertically downward sufficiently to permit its cam-surface 40 to engage any adjacent tabular stop of the series of stops A-A when rack-bar 21 is given counterclockwise rotation.

A vertically extending finger-piece 4l is provided to permit the operator conveniently to relocate cam v31 along rack-bar 21 should a new paragraph-setting be required.

Intermediate the extremities of paragraphcarriage 2| is'an integral', verticalY extension 42y having a rearwardly extending horizontal tongue 43 overhanging the margin-stop device 44. Margin-stop 44 comprises a carriage 45 and. a latch 46 operatively .associated by means of pinextensions 41, passing through vertical lugs 48 of carriage 45 and slidably engaging slots 49 in the downwardly extending sides of latch 46.

Latch 46 is formed with a downward extension 58 at one end, serving to act as a pawl to engage any tooth 5I of rack 24, and at its other end with a finger piece or button 52.

A pin 53 projecting downwardly from tongue 43 of paragraph-carriage 2l loosely engages a hole 54 in the surface of latch 46, thus holding latch 46 and paragraph-carriage 2| always in positive relation.

In a lateral projection 55, at one end of carriage 45, is an adjustable flat-headed screw 56 arranged parallel with the rack-bar 24 and adapted by coming into contact with the machine-frame stop 51 to arrest the travel of the carriage. l

At the opposite end of carriage 45 a cam-plate 58 is secured to the surface of the carriage by lugs 59 embracing the sides of the carriage and a screw 68 passing through slotted opening 6| in cam-plate 58 and into carriage 45, the function of the slotted opening being to permit a lateral adjustment of the position of the cam-plate. A vertical and rearward extension 62 of cam-plate 58 forms a suitable cam-surface, which will engage the edge 63 of latch 46. It will be seen from Figure 6 that, when the operator depresses latch 46, so as to release pawl 58 and permit an adjustment of the margin-setting device, the action of 63 against the cam-surface 62 serves to shift the position of carriage 45 tothe left relative to the position of latch 46, the slotted opening 49 permitting such movement, and pin 41 taking an intermediate position in the slot 49. This permits the carriage to be moved one letter-space after screw 56 abuts against framestop 51, providing a compensation of the lag or drop in the escapement, as described in the patent to Buckingham No. 1,053,153.

Thus the relative positions of the marginsetting carriage and the paragraph-setting carriage are maintained, and the paragraph-setting carriage utilizes the escapement compensation of the margin-setting device.

In Figure l, 51 designates the usual framestop, which may consist of a lever. pivoted to the machine-frame intermediate its ends at 86 and connected at its lower leg to a marginal release on the machine-keyboard (not shown) by a link 81. The frame-stop is normally held in position in the path of the margin-stop-abutment screw 56 by means of the spring 88. Operation of the marginal release exerts a forward pull on the link 81, rocking the frame-stop rearwardly out of the path of the margin-stop-abutment screw.

A bell-crank lever 89 pivoted independently of but on the same shaft as the escapement-rack bar, has a downwardly projecting arm 98 with ,a bearing surface 9! abutting the lower leg of the marginal release lever, and a forwardly extending arm 92 underlying the escapement-rack bar. The forward motion oi the lower leg of the marginal release lever 51 will therefore cause a rotation of the bell-crank lever 89, lifting the escapement-rack bar free of the pinion and releasing the carriage, which will be moved by the power of the carriage-drive motor I9.

For tabulating, a series of tabular key-actuated stop-levers 64, 64e, 64b, 64C, etc., are pivoted intermediate their ends on a suitable machineframe bracket at 93. The upper extremities of the stop-levers normally lie out of the path of the row of tabular stops A-A, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. A universal frame 94 pivoted at 93 surrounds the group of tabular key-stops as shown in Figure 1. The back of the frame is formed with a bearing surface 95 which abuts the lower ends of the tabular stop-levers, The front of the frame is formed with a projecting bail 96 which engages an abutment 91 on the frame-stop 51.

The key-operated tabular stops 64, 64a, etc., are operatively associated with .a series of tabular keys on the machine-keyboard (not shown), to be used as denominational tabular stops. One of such keys is used as a general tabulating key when typing in usual column-formation, and for operation with the paragraphing device disclosed herein. Depressing any one of the tabular keys will rock its associated stop-lever counterclockwise about its pivot, bringing the upper surface in position to engage a tabular stop, and through the medium of universal frame 94 will conjointly operate the frame-stop 51 and the carriage-release crank 89.

The series of tabular stops A is permanently positioned between the upper and lower rack-bars 65, 66, which are held in parallel spaced relation by the end pla-tes Ia. The lower face of the upper bar and the upper face of the lower bar are formed with a series of transversely disposed grooves 61, 68, the grooves being arranged in pairs and spaced apart in letter-space intervals. A

tabular stop such as 69 occupies each of the pairs of transverse grooves.

The tabular stop 69 is roughly H-shaped with a central portion 1i) engaging the upper and lower slots 61, 68, and upwardly converging front and rear arms 1l 12, and downwardly diverging iront and rear legs 13, 14. Intermediate of the front extremities a notch 15 receives at its seat an offset portion of one end of a spring 16, which has a central loop brought around a headed stud 11 on the side of stop 69 and its other end bearing against the edge of slot 61; the purpose of said spring being to frictionally retain the tabular stop in either the operative or inoperative position.

The stops are permitted a limited motion in a plane at right angles to the rack-bars 65, 66, the

rounded ends of the arms 1l, 12 bearing against rack-bar 65 and acting as pivots.

The stop 69 may be rocked rearwardly into the operative position by the pressure exerted by the cam-surface 48 of the adjacent paragraph-setting cam 31 when, at the will of the operator, rackbar 21 is rotated counterclockwise as previously described; the tabular stop 69 then assuming the position illustrated in Figure 3. For general tabulating work, when additional stops are to be set to permit typing in column-formations, the operator moves the machine-carriage into a position where the appropriate column-stop will be adjacent to the pusher-nger 98, which is a bellcrank, pivoted at shaft 86, and pivotally connected at 99 to a tabular-set key IBB, on the machine-keyboard. Finger-pressure on the tabular-set key will cause pusher-finger 98 to engage an adjacent tabular stop and rock it into operative position.

To return any tabular stop, such as 69, to its inoperative position, suitable pressure is applied at the rear edge of the stop, at a point below rack 65, thus rocking the stop in a forward direction.

The mechanism for applying such pressure is the cam-face 18, Figure 1, which with its associated assembly is similar in construction to that disclosed in the patent to Myers and Handley No'. 1,892,071. The cam-face is rocked forward to engage the tabular stop by a forward finger-pressure at lever 19. It will be understood that the cammechanism is not free to travel transversely, it being necessary to bring the tabular stop into Contact with the lead rollers 80 and the cam-face 18 by suitably moving the carriage. On the release of pressure at lever 19 the cam-assembly returns to its normal position clear of any projecting stops by means of a suitable spring, not shown, urging the cam-assembly into clockwise rotation around its pivot 8| A sta-tement of the method of operating the paragraph-setting mechanism described herein will serve to illustrate the advantages of this invention, and to coordinate the various actions. The operator first sets marginal stop 14 for a suitable left-hand marginal indentation by sliding the marginal-stop carriage 45 along the rackbar 24 until the head of screw 56 abuts against frame-stop 51, the typewriter-carriage previously having been set in a position corresponding to the eXtreme left-hand margin desired. The paragraph-stop mechanism 2i is set for the desired paragraph-indentation by locating paragraphsetting cam 31 in a suitable tooth of rack-bar 21, and then, by an upward finger-pressure at 35, rotating the rack-bar 21 so as to bring the camsurface 4E! of setting camv 31 into contact with the face of an adjacent tabular stop 69, the arrangement of the teeth of rack 21 being such that, for any location of setting cam 31, a tabular stop of the series A will be directly in the rear or" it. Contact of se-tting cam 31 with tabular stop 69 rocks stop 59 into the operative position, as shown in Figure 3. With the release of iinger-pressure at 35, spring 3B acts to returnthe paragraphrack-bar 21 to its normal position.

The machine is now ready for operation. When the operator, having completed the first paragraph, wishes to begin the second, it is necessary only to return the carriage to they left-hand margin-line in the customary manner, and then to depress the usual tabular key, which releases the carriage, causing it to move to the left, and at the same time brings the tabular-key-operated stop 64, Figure 2, into the path oi the tabular stop S9, arresting further travel oi the carriage at a new writing position in alignment with the previous paragraph-indentations. The operative positions of sto-p 69 and tabula '-key-operated stop 64 are shown in dotted line, as 82 and 83, at Figure 2.

Should it be desirable to make a new paragraph-indentation, the tabular stop 59 is returned to its inoperative position by a forward fingerpressure on lever 19, Figure 1, bringing rollers Si! and cam-face 18 into the path of the o-perative tabular stop as the machine-carriage is moved to the left or right. A new setting of paragraphcam 31 will then, in the manner described, place a corresponding tabular stop into the operative position.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine having one or more tabular keys, tabular or column stops and a margin-setting device, a paragraph-setting mechanism adapted to engage one of said stops to cause said stop to act as a paragraph-stop, -said paragraph-setting mechanism operatively associated with said margin-setting device so as to be capable of lateral movement therewith.

2. In a typewriting machine of the class described in claim 1, a paragraph-setting mechanism comprising a slidable carriage, a toothed bar held by such carriage, a cam frictionally held on said bar, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop so as to cause said stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting mechanism engaging the marginsetting device so as to be capable of lateral movement therewith.

3. In a typewriting machine of the class described in claim l, a paragraph-setting mechanism comprising a. slidable carriage, a laterally adjustable cam mounted on a bar held by such carriage, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to act as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting mechanism engaging the margin-setting device so as to be capable of movement therewith.

1. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism and a marginal-setting device incorporating means for compensating for the escapement lead or drop, and a paragraph-setting mechanism as described in claim 3, said paragraph-setting mechanism operatively associated with the marginal-setting device so as to benet by the escapement lead or drop compensation afforded by said marginalsetting device.

5. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism and a marginal-setting device incorporating escapement lead or ldrop compensation, a paragraphsetting device comprising a movable carriage, a manually operable setting cam associated therewith, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting device engaging said marginal-setting device so as to benefit by the escapement lead or drop compensation afforded by said marginal-setting device.

6. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism and a marginal-setting device incorporating escapement lead or drop compensation, a paragraphsetting device comprising a movable carriage, a manually operable setting cam associated therewith, said cam adjustable to permit variation in the paragraph-indentation, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting device engaging said marginal-setting device so as to benet by the escapement lead or drop compensation afforded by said marginal-setting device.

'7. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism and a marginal-setting device incorporating escapement lead or drop compensation, a paragraphsetting device comprising a movable carriage, a manually operable setting cam associated therewith, said cam adjustable to permit variation in' theparagraph-indentation, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting device constructively independent of said marginal-setting device, but engaging said marginalsetting device so as to benet by the escapement lead or drop compensation afforded by said marginal-setting device.

8. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism and a marginal-setting device incorporating escapement lead or drop compensation, a paragraphsetting device comprising a movable carriage, a manually operable setting cam associated therewith, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraph-setting device engaging said marginal-setting device so as to benet by the escapement lead or drop compensation aorded by said marginal-setting device, said paragraph-setting device having means to return said setting cam to the inoperative position.

9. In a typewriting machine of the class described having a tabular stop mechanism, means for returning said tabular stop mechanism to its inoperative position, and a marginal-setting device incorporating escapement lead or drop compensation, a paragraph-setting device comprising a movable carriage, a manually operable setting cam associated therewith, and means for operating said cam to engage a tabular stop to function as a paragraph-stop, said paragraphsetting device engaging said marginal-setting device so as to benefit by the escapement lead or drop compensation alorded by said marginalsetting device, said paragraph-setting device having means to return said setting cam to the inoperative position.

10. In a typewriting machine of the class described, a paragraph-setting device associated With a marginal-setting device and adapted to place any one of a series of tabular stops in operative position, such tabular stop serving to act as a paragraph-stop by arresting the motion of the machine-carriage, such carriage having been released by the operator in pressing a designated tabular key.

11. In a typewriting machine, a mechanism operatively associated with an adjustable marginal-setting stop, such mechanism serving to act as a paragraph-setting stop-device by setting one of a series of tabular stops to serve as a paragraph-stop, such paragraph-setting stop-device moving longitudinally with, and in fixed relation to, the marginal-stop so as to retain the same degree of paragraph-indentation for any new marginal-setting,

JESSE A. B. SMITH. 

